Brain over Beast
by notmyname0123456789
Summary: Gabriel Tam has made some bad calls at work, and as a result, offers River up as price. AU with modern themes where River is sold and kept by big time political man, Jayne Cobb. (Inspired by Disney's Beauty and the Beast)
1. Homecoming

River threw open her bedroom door and ran down the hallway to the stairs. Once she got to the top of the landing, she slowed down before placing her hand on the banister and elegantly descending into the foyer of her parent's home. She was raised to be as ladylike as possible, or at least in front of her parents and important visiting dignitaries.

Her parents always got her a gift when she returned from school on break. Freshman year of college she had gotten new riding equipment for her horses just for coming home for Thanksgiving. She went back to school, came back for winter break and in return choreographed a local orphanage's dance recital. Sophomore year she got a car and then a chance to backpack across Europe completely parent free, but her brother Simon came along.

Simon wasn't any better than both of her parents combined. He was an amazing brother, but a rather uptight parent. River often shuddered mentally at the images of Simon as a father produced.

The floral dress she was wearing tickled her knees as she stepped down from the stairs. River eagerly, but poised, came into the living room where her parents sat with their usual serious faces. Her father stood up at once at her arrival and tried to smile at her, but his brow stayed furrowed. Her mother, Regan, stayed seated, hands grasped tightly in her lap, facing the window.

"River, dear, have a seat." Gabriel said.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" River walked over to a high backed chair next to the empty fireplace and sat down, crossing her ankles and placing her fair hands on the arm rests. The mood of the room stated she was not to be receiving another welcome home gift, but that didn't stop her from giving a subtle once over of the room, looking for any large boxes or something shiny. She doubted that another car would be waiting outside, but she caught sight of a large SUV looking vehicle parked in the driveway.

There was no big red bow, and it didn't look as welcoming as the last one she received. "Who's here?" She asked, leaning forward from the chair.

"River…" Her father clasped his hands tighter behind his back and looked down at his wife, not meeting the eyes of his daughter.

"Is everything alright?" River glanced at her mother, still looking out the window.

"Don't interrupt your father," her mother's voice was soft and low as she talked to the wall. "We have very important news concerning you."

She hadn't done anything, River thought to herself. She was doing good in all her classes, exceeding them. She hadn't snuck out, she kept her room clean, not one car wreck. Their grave expressions suggested there was nothing good coming out of this conversation.

"River," her father started, "you know Daddy has connections with people all over. Powerful people." She nodded. "And you understand many of these powerful people have obtained their status by not always following the law and not doing the right thing."

He was beating around a rather large bush. River crossed and re-crossed her legs as she frowned up at her father. Gabriel Tam had begun to pace behind the large brown couch in the middle of the living room, moving his hands while he talked.

"Well, Daddy has…"

"Oh for Heaven's sake, Gabriel! Just tell her already!" Regan Tam whipped her head around, her voice tight as she looked at here tense husband. When he only gritted his teeth, searching for words, she sighed. "River, we've sold you."


	2. Sold Property

"Oh for Heaven's sake, Gabriel! Just tell her already!" Regan Tam whipped her head around, her voice tight as she looked at here tense husband. When he only gritted his teeth, searching for words, she sighed. "River, we've sold you."

Sold? "Sold? What the _diyu_ does that mean? Sold me?" River stood up from the large chair and stepped forward to face her mother. "I'm my own person! I'm an adult! You don't have possession over me! You- why- what context is this? Where's Simon?" River whipped her head around the room, waiting for her brother to pop up with a bow on his head and yell surprise, giant smile on his face.

Even for Simon, this would be a cruel joke. Trafficking his sister? Large eyes flicking back to her parents, she saw the wetness of their eyes and the frown lines set into their elegant faces.

"River… there's no need to shout. Simon is fine, he's still at work." Gabriel squared his shoulders and sat down next to his wife still on the couch. Taking her hand he motioned for River to sit back down in the high backed chair. She didn't.

"There is a need to shout!" River glared at her father. She waved her arm, and then lowered it, thinking. Sure she had the news of being sold, but to whom? And why? Lowering the tension in her shoulders, but not the murderous fire in her eyes, River slowly made her way back to her chair and sat down, looking at her parents. "Why am I being shipped like packaged meat? Where am I going?"

Gabriel raised his jaw as he looked at her. "I have made… a few… bad calls lately in my political work. I have lost the family a large amount of money and may have soiled our reputation to boot. The man holding the cards asked for payment, and the highest thing I had to offer was you."

"Thing?" River bit out, "I am not a thing, I am your rutting daughter, Mr. Tam!"

"River Tam!" Regan raised her voice. "You will not take that tone of voice with your father!"

"What father?" River stood up and rounded the back of her chair, putting a comforting wall between herself and the other two. She waved a hand towards Gabriel. "All I see is a ignorant _hundan_ whose sold his only daughter to a faceless political tyrant!"

"There is no reason to swear." Regan raised her chin. How could she still be acting so dignified when she just told her daughter that she had been auctioned off because her father was a terrible gambler?

"No…no reason to swear?" River gripped the back of the chair. "How can you say that? Yu haven't even told me why I've been sold!"

"Yes I did!" Gabriel raised his voice to match his daughter's. "I made a bad call, River! The only way to fix it was to give this man whatever he wanted, and he chose you!" His shoulders slumped as he cast his eyes to look at his shoes. "There was no getting out of it."

"This man, who is he? What does he want with me?" River lowered her voice and brushed a piece of brown hair behind her ear. "Where will I be going? Is there a way out of it?"

Gabriel shook his head. "We don't know. As far as I know, you'll be living with this man until he sees fit. You'll be acting as a bargaining chip, as I work to try and fix my mistakes."

"He must not be a very good man if he's using a man's daughter as a bargaining chip." River huffed out as she sat back down in her chair. She didn't feel any tears needing to pour out of her, just dread. Dread at the thought of leaving her parents and Simon for who knows how long. Dread at not knowing who she was to live with or where. Dread at the probability of never returning to school; never completing her degree.

"Good wouldn't be the word, I'd use either," a gruff voice spoke into the silence from the entrance of the room.


	3. The Beast

"He must not be a very good man if he's using a man's daughter as a bargaining chip." River huffed out as she sat back down in her chair. She didn't feel any tears needing to pour out of her, just dread. Dread at the thought of leaving her parents and Simon for who knows how long. Dread at not knowing who she was to live with or where. Dread at the probability of never returning to school; never completing her degree.

"Good wouldn't be the word, I'd use either," a gruff voice spoke into the silence from the entrance of the room.

River looked up, her parents straightening and swiveling their heads to the room's open entrance. Leaning against the frame was a beast of a man; his head only a half a foot from brushing the ceiling, upper body wrapped in shadows from the low lighting. All River could see of him was large arms crossed over a large chest, clad in a light brown suit, shining brown leather boots over giant feet; the rest of him was hidden in the dark.

"Good with my hands, good with my money, good at my job on most days," the deep voice said, straight white teeth beaming at the Tams, "but I'm pretty shit with other people." She watched him shove his large hands into the pockets of his suit pants. "Shit at my job come to think of it."

"Please," Gabriel stood up, beginning to talk with his hands with agitation, "she's barely out of col-"

"_Ānjìng!_ I wasn't talking to you, Tam." The beast snarled. "Was explaining myself to your girl over there." She watched him move his head to peer at her through the dark. "Miss Tam," he began, "I just need you to come live with me for awhile. It'll be good for your daddy, too. The press seeing me with his prized possession on my arm? Help me look better in the people's eyes and get your daddy started on my better side. What'd'ya say, _Qìgrén_?"

"Don't ever address her like that!" Gabriel shouted.

"I wasn't talking to you, Congressman!"

"Come into the light." River said.

"What?" Both men turned to look at her standing in front of her high backed chair.

"Come into the light," she spoke up and straightened her shoulders so as not to cross her arms. "I want to see you."

"Why?" The man shifted a bit in the doorway.

River crossed her arms. "I'd like to see the face of a man that depends on a young woman that hasn't even finished school yet to further his career in the public eye."

"I already told you I'm not a good man, Miss Tam." He stepped forward into the dimly lit room, the only light source was the sun shining through the window blinds. River raised her brows when she took in the sight of the man. He was _huge_. How he stuffed himself into a suit and tie, she didn't know. He was over six feet, and the shoulder seams of his jacket were tight against his frame. His suit was light brown with a white shirt and dark brown tie. River guessed he would have seemed like an honest to goodness politician, if he didn't look like a log shoved into a tube sock. This beast of a man was a good ten or so years older than her, by the look of it; blue, blue eyes and dark brown hair. There wasn't any gray in there by her first look, but the sad look in his eyes said he'd lived a lot longer and through much more than River. "Don't need to remind me of what I'm doing."

"That may be all I'll do if I choose to go with you." So what if her father's career was in jeopardy? She was not legally 'bound' to her parents any more, she was over 18, could make her own decisions, she was only obligated to see them.

"Choose?" The man sneered and sauntered a few steps more into the room, taking his hands out of his pockets to cross them over his barrel chest once again. "I don't think you have the option of going with me or not, Miss Tam. You are my bargaining chip. You _will_ come to live with me or else your father will be arrested for his crimes."

"What crimes has he committed?" River glanced at her father as he cleared his throat.

"That would be for another day."

"I have a right to know."

The man lowered his head and grinned sheepishly. Odd. "To start? Signature forgery on legal documents and voting fraud." He looked up and shrugged, still grinning a bit, "Among other things."

River curled her lip as she watched her father's shoulders shlump. She looked at her options: be the reason her father gets arrested and go to jail, losing the family fortune and money for her final year at college; or go to live with a man she doesn't know the name of, for an unmentioned amount of time and doing unknown… _activities._

"Alright, sir. You have yourself a reluctant bargaining chip."

The man smiled at River. "It won't be that bad, Miss Tam." He held out his hand as she came forward toward him. He looked down at her, "Call me Jayne."


End file.
